W.Va. has lowest labor force participation in US

October 2, 2013

The Journal's September 16 editorial, "What Jobs?" raises important points about national unemployment numbers and labor force participation. There is also an important West Virginia jobs story that your readers should know.

West Virginia has the lowest labor force participation rate in the entire country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. As bad as that news sounds, unfortunately, it gets worse. West Virginia has had the lowest labor force participation in the entire country for more than 30 years!

One way to help bring new, well-paying jobs to West Virginia is to address the bad reputation of our state court system. If our leaders enacted comprehensive civil justice reforms, such as creating an intermediate appellate court and fixing our out-of-step joint and several liability laws, more job creators would be motivated to grow their business and hire more West Virginians.

Unfortunately, as long as the West Virginia Legislature is controlled by television-advertising personal injury lawyers, the prospects of passing legal reforms to help create more jobs look increasingly dim. We need more jobs, not more lawsuits.